Welcome to the December issue of Applied Radiation Oncology ! As the year draws to a close, our field continues to advance with exciting developments in adaptive radiation therapy (ART), personalized care, and a renewed focus on health equity. This issue offers a rich collection of reviews, research, case reports, and commentary that reflect these themes and provide insights to enhance your clinical practice.

Our review articles spotlight ART, a transformative approach to treatment delivery. Treatment Planning Considerations for Implementing a Cone-Beam Computed Tomography-Guided Adaptive Radiation Therapy Program provides practical workflows and disease-specific strategies for implementing cone-beam CT-guided ART across various sites such as the thorax, abdomen, prostate, and bladder. Complementing this article, A Review of Online Adaptive Radiation Therapy explores the growing feasibility of online ART using CBCT and MRI, accelerated by AI and machine learning. Together, these informative reviews demonstrate the increasing accessibility of ART and its potential to personalize patient care.

The research article Disease Characteristics, Treatment Toxicity in Older Patients With Oropharyngeal Cancer highlights important findings on treatment tolerance. While survival outcomes between older and younger patients are similar, older patients experience greater toxicity, underscoring the need for multidisciplinary supportive care and geriatric assessment in treatment planning.

In the commentary Radiate and Educate: Empowering Future Physicians Through an International Radiation Oncology Student Newsletter, medical students take a front-seat role in increasing awareness of the radiation oncology field. The article details how the RadOnc Student Scan helps bridge the gap between students and medical professionals by offering publishing and networking opportunities, while fostering engagement in our specialty’s future. We are extremely proud of the work presented in this article and in the quarterly newsletters developed by talented members of ARO ’s Future Content Student Committee.

Also featured in the issue are case reports that offer compelling clinical insights. In Hyperacute Necrosis of a Trigeminal Schwannoma After Gamma Knife Radiosurgery , a case of immediate tumor necrosis following radiosurgery underscores the unpredictability of clinical outcomes. Additionally, The Use of Adaptive Radiation in Retroperitoneal Seminoma Patients demonstrates how ART can optimize outcomes for patients unsuitable for chemotherapy by reducing toxicity while maintaining tumor control.

The Resident Voice column, Building Barriers or Bridges? How Health and Public Policy Modulate Access to Care, is an excellent editorial addressing the persistent health disparities driven by discriminatory policies. It is a powerful reminder of our role as advocates for equitable health care and the need to support policies that dismantle barriers to care.

Finally, I would like to sincerely thank Sharon Breske, managing editor for ARO since 2014, for her passion, dedication, and diligence over the past decade! Her leadership, focus, and grit have allowed this journal to grow and transform over the last decade and allowed us to obtain COPE membership and application status with PubMed Central. We wish her the very best with her semi-retirement! Please welcome our new managing editor, Claudia Stahl!

Thank you for being part of the Applied Radiation Oncology community. We wish you a joyful new year of peace, hope, health, and continued learning!